Mayweather Should Beat Mosley

"Floyd Mayweather should beat Mosley", Says Billy Graham. Billy Graham, who took Ricky Hatton into a megafight with Floyd back in December 2007, spent hours studying Floyd in the build-up to that showdown.  Sadly, he left the MGM Grand arena heartbroken after Hatton's tenth-round stoppage loss yet Floyd's boxing had impressed the veteran trainer. Indeed, Graham has waxed lyrical about Floyd ever since and believes that it will take a special fighter to beat "Money" Mayweather.

"It is no foregone conclusion, for sure, but you'd have to lean towards Floyd, who is younger and hasn't taken any of those type of beatings that Shane took in his fights against Vernon Forrest and Winky Wright," Graham declared when analyzing the upcoming contest.

"You can’t write Shane off, as he's having an Indian summer in recent fights. Shane has wanted Floyd for a long time and believes he knows how to beat him. I believe that Mosley is physically stronger as he's been used to fighting these bigger guys. Then again, Floyd doesn't often need to use his strength because his ability wins him fights.

"I think that the main problem for Shane is that he’d rather have someone come to him; he likes to sit back, let someone come, and work off the mistakes. Shane needs to take it to Floyd in this fight and it is something he isn't used to. This is possibly tougher for both men than a fight with Manny [Pacquiao] would have been."

Graham believes that the key to beating Floyd is not just back him up but, rather, knowing what to do when you have forced Floyd into his defensive shell. "If it is a straight boxing match then Floyd will edge it. Shane needs to make a fight of it at times to take Floyd out of his stride, whether or not he can do that is what makes this a fascinating fight," predicted Graham. "I always knew that the problem wasn't catching up with Floyd, who couldn't move backwards faster than Ricky could move forward, and had warned Ricky beforehand that Floyd would hit a lot harder on the outside and inside than he'd been led to believe. Look, you don't operate at Floyd's level if you're a non-puncher so I told Ricky to be prepared for that and that the real problem was what to do when he got close to Floyd."

Too much talking this time

Graham, though, is not prepared to write Shane off; he believes that Vernon Forrest, who took away Shane's '0' and then out-pointed Mosley in the return match, took a lot out of Shane and that it took Mosley a few years to get those reverses out of his system. Ominously, 'The Viper' utilised a box-clinching style to break Shane's rhythm, this technique is often employed by Floyd; Graham believes that Shane will have to face his worst stylistic nightmare as well as upping his own game once again if he is to prevail.

Tale of the Tape

	Shane Mosley	vs	Floyd Mayweather
Win	46		40
Loss	5		0
Draw	0		0
K.O	39		25
Age	38		32
Height	5'9"		5'8"
Reach	74"		72"
Style	Boxer-Puncher		Boxer/Defensive
Nick Name	Sugar		Pretty Boy/Money

Is Graham reasonable enough? Or is he just a die-hard Floyd fan?